Man killed by robot when working at Volkswagen in Germany

Man killed by robot is a heading that you might have thought would be in a horror film or book about robots taking over the world, but sadly it isn’t, it is real life. A man was crushed to death at the Volkswagen plant in Germany where he worked.

[Image Courtesy of IFLScience]

The 22-year- old was working as a technician and was undertaking the installation of a stationary robot. The robot undertakes a series of tasks on the assembly line when making cars and it takes hold of car parts and manipulates them.

In this instance the robot is said to have crushed the man up against a metal plate after grabbing hold of him. The man was taken to hospital but sadly passed away due to the injuries he suffered.

Of course this is going to bring about questions and talk of robots becoming rogue but it seems from a spokesperson from Volkswagen that human error actually played a factor in the death of the man. The workers are usually apart from the robots, with the robots operating in a confined space. However in this case it appears that the man had been inside the cage with the robot when the accident happened. Another worker escaped injury.

The case is being investigated by authorities and officials in Germany. The worker who escaped without being harmed has refrained from discussing the incident while the investigation continues.